Red Sox Journal: Capuano adds to bullpen depth

The Red Sox have signed veteran left-hander Chris Capuano to a major-league deal worth $2.25 million. With incentives, Capuano can earn up to $5 million.

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By
Tim Britton
Posted Feb. 20, 2014 @ 7:45 pm

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have signed veteran left-hander Chris Capuano to a major-league deal worth $2.25 million. With incentives, Capuano can earn up to $5 million.

The agreement was first reported by MassLive.com.

Capuano, 35, would resupply Boston with some of the starting depth lost when Ryan Dempster hung up his cleats for 2014. It does not appear as if Capuano would compete for a spot in the starting rotation. Rather, he’d be a guy who can be stored in the bullpen and used as a spot starter when needed.

Capuano has limited experience as a reliever, including four relief appearances last season for the Dodgers. He spent the last two years in Los Angeles, going 16-19 with a 3.91 ERA in 57 games.

An All-Star while with the Brewers in 2006, Capuano missed both the 2008 and 2009 seasons because of Tommy John surgery. (That was his second Tommy John surgery; the first came in 2002 while in the minor leagues.) Over that period, he endured an ignominious stretch in which Milwaukee lost 26 consecutive games in which Capuano appeared.

He revitalized his career in 2011 with the Mets, making 31 starts and posting a 4.55 ERA.

This would mark a bit of a homecoming for Capuano, who grew up in Springfield, Mass.

The move would likely curtail competition for the final bullpen spot, since presumably it would belong to Capuano. It also signals that Brandon Workman would probably open the year in Triple-A Pawtucket.

Lackey comfortable

John Lackey’s 2013 season started with questions about his ability to contribute either quantity or quality in the starting rotation. It ended with Lackey tipping his cap to the fans at Fenway in the World Series clincher.

“It’s been a crazy ride, I guess,” Lackey said.

Just about everyone in the Red Sox organization has seen their perception improve over the last 12 months. Nobody’s reputation has been boosted in Boston more than Lackey’s, though, as he went from a Red Sox pariah to a hero.

The right-hander is ready for a more normal spring training this time around, one where his capabilities aren’t doubted at every turn.

“Lot easier this year, for sure,” said Lackey. “I don’t have to do some of the rehab stuff I had to do last year. Can just kind of get into regular workouts. Feeling great physically, and just trying to do it again.”

Jon Lester may have merited more ink with his tremendous postseason last autumn, but Lackey may have been the most consistent member of the Red Sox rotation in 2013. His 10-13 record belied a 3.52 ERA. He pitched into the seventh inning in 15 consecutive starts in the second half of the season. He took the mound in the first inning 33 times, and he delivered a quality start on 22 of those occasions.

He even pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the World Series.

On NESN front . . .

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said the team is “delighted” that longtime broadcaster Jerry Remy is returning to the booth in 2014.

Remy took a leave of absence last August after his son Jared was arrested for murder.

Last month, the elder Remy announced that he would return this spring for his 27th season in the Fenway booth.

“We just offered him our support after the tragedy and said, ‘There’s a place for you if and when you want to come back.”

Werner also clarified the status of former Red Sox reporter Jenny Dell with the network on Thursday. Dell has been taken off Red Sox duty after divulging that she and third baseman Will Middlebrooks are in a relationship.

“We talked about it internally because I think Jenny is a terrific reporter. We came to the conclusion, and Jenny came to the same conclusion, that it would be a distraction for her to be a reporter,” Werner said. “She’s moving on. It wasn’t a black-and-white decision because, can she sort of divorce her personal life from being a professional? We decided in the end it was probably better to move on and not have it be a distraction.”

While Dell is still employed at NESN, Werner said she is exploring other opportunities outside of the network and that NESN would allow her to move on.

Wright rehab

The pain was so acute Steven Wright still remembers the exact date it started.

It was Dec. 19 when Wright first started experiencing sharp pains whenever he tried to get up. A series of appointments with Red Sox doctors followed, eventually leading to surgery on a sports hernia on Feb. 10. Earlier attempts to treat the issue non-surgically weren’t able to solve the problem.

“It sucks, but it’s one of those things where, if it was going to happen, it happened at a good time,” said Wright, who made his first appearance at Red Sox camp on Thursday. “The season is long. Hopefully I can get back in May.”

For now, Wright’s rehab is likely to involve some basic massaging and light cardio — “training the body to learn how to move again” in Wright’s words. He hopes to be throwing again in six weeks.

“I’m not going to rush it because the last thing I want to do is compound it and get something else,” Wright said. ”It’s part of the game sometimes. You’re going to get hurt. I’m glad it’s not my arm.”